Leibide's March
One hundred and fifty years ago Leibide of House Relia successfully lobbied the Assembly for a military annexation of Kemuliaan. Many at the time believed that they, and their Ambassador Fontiama, were overexerting their influence in Azhahad affairs. Everyone expected the war to be over quickly, as Kemuliaan has never been known for its military prowess. All the same, it was a shock when Kemuliaan surrendered the instant war was declared. Their Ambassador offered herself as a prisoner of war, collaborating fully with the handover of the Embassy to Assembly control. The saber rattling became stilted and confused after that. The planned siege of the Embassy was called off, but forces had already been mustered for an invasion. Even with the full support of the Kemulese, moving such a large force through that endless burning waste proved to be a logistics nightmare. Burning days, freezing nights, and progress halted altogether by sandstorms. Then there was the periodic contact with wildlife. Hungry jackals picking off stragglers, venomous beetles hiding in sleeping bags, and every dune could be hiding a sleeping wyrm. A small group led by experienced guides could make the trip with relative ease. Legions of soldiers and lumbering supply caravans suffered casualties. Inside the city walls however, there was an oasis. A paradise full of sweet poisons and silk nooses. Discipline became all but impossible to maintain. The guileless drowned in their own delight while the cunning lost themselves in a wilderness of mirrors. The shadows grew longer as weeks went by, and many learned to fear sleep, for the terrible dreams it brought them. By the second year of the conquest, assignment to Kemuliaan had come to be regarded as an informal punishment to an Azhahadi, tantamount to a death sentence. The Trader's League began grumbling of reduced business from the eastern kingdoms. Worst of all, prices for safe passage through the desert continued to sky rocket as more and more deserters turned to banditry, adding one more thing to the list of ways the desert would kill a man. All the while, Fontiama was making her apologies in Azhahad. She was nothing but supportive and all to eager to officially denounce all the ugliest rumors coming in regarding the occupiers disastrous mismanagement of the territory. Quietly, on the side, she entertained those who wished to discuss hypothetical strategies for withdrawal. The Assembly churned with frustration and accusations ricocheted throughout the halls. The Duke herself demanded Leibide return and publicly account for himself. He answered the summons, but the fact that he'd become a half mad opium sot did little to inspire confidence. In the end, Kemulese sovereignty was restored by a new treaty of alliance between the two nations. To very this day the treaty is touted as being vastly favorable to Azhahad, but any serious legal scholar can show you how it's really over one hundred pages of non-statements and double speak which boils down to, "War bad. Let us never speak of this again.".